Keen On

MIT professor Thomas Levenson is one of America’s most celebrated science writers and filmmakers. In his upcoming new book, So Very Small, Levenson charts the history of germ theory to underline how modern scientific research has changed the world and saved tens of millions of lives. Not surprisingly, then, Levenson expresses deep concern about the Trump administration's attacks on the American scientific establishment, particularly funding cuts affecting critical research. He warns against growing the anti-vaccine ideology, explaining how periods of rapid social change often trigger the kind of anti-expertise attitudes articulated by paranoid reactionaries like RFK Jr. FIVE TAKEAWAYS* Science in America is under assault by the Trump administration through funding cuts to critical research institutions like NIH, which doesn't just affect current work but dismantles research infrastructure that takes years to build.* Levenson's book "So Very Small" traces how humans discovered mic